Truths that Reality Obscures
by caffinate-me
Summary: "Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures"- Ralph Waldo Emerson. A series of unrelated one-shots by prompt. Each (hopefully) written within an hour. More to come! Prompt 7: The couples make a bet on who can go without you-know-what the longest.
1. Rainy Day Panty Parade

I asked for prompt ideas for one-shots on Twitter. These are the results. Thank you to everyone for your ideas! More to come soon! :)

1. Rainy Day Panty Parade.

Prompt: Underwear

From: Bitterann

* * *

She sighed as she clomped down the stairs in the loft and made her way through the kitchen to the refrigerator. Leaning against the heavy stainless steal door as the cool air wafted over her, she tapped her fingers against her thigh. She was bored. Too bored. This summer thing, this break, this vacation, this transition in life stages was exhilarating but daunting at the same time.

With a sigh she closed the door and leaned back against the fridge. She wasn't even hungry. She needed something to do. Now.

Running. There was always running.

She glanced out the window. It was raining.

She ran a hand through her hair as her cheeks puffed out with an aggravated sigh. She was tired of reading, she didn't want to watch a movie; the kitchen was spotless.

Ugh.

She could hear the clacking of typing coming from the office. She could always go bother him.

No.

No, she couldn't. He had a deadline coming up and she had made promise to write until he was done. No distractions. What kind of message would it send if she were the one to distract him? Really? She would never hear the end of it and it would be impossible to get him to go back to work.

No, she had to figure out another way to entertain herself.

Some of those gaming things had always looked kind of interesting. She could always just play one of those.

She sighed again. No, she wouldn't sink to that level. She had held out this long; she wasn't going to let herself give in now. Wii boxing was not going to get the best of her. No. Nope. Nuh uh.

She pushed herself off of the fridge and picked a sweater off of one of the stools standing at the bar. Well, she could always do laundry. That was an exciting Thursday evening, right there. Yep. Thrilling. Completely epic, but her boyfriend was busy, her friends were at work. What else could she do? She could always call Lanie and beg to come hang out at the morgue but that could just be awkward. Everyone was still so on edge.

She bit her lip, chewing it slightly as she debated for a moment.

No. She wouldn't do that. Laundry. She would do laundry.

She trudged across the loft, run her hands through hair a couple of times before pulling it up into a knot on the back of her head. She made her way through the office and was offered a grunt of acknowledgement, the typing never slowing or stopping. She rolled her eyes with a sigh, before mentally reprimanded herself. It wasn't his fault; he had to work and she couldn't have his attention all the time. Hell, she didn't want his attention all the time. That would literally drive her insane.

No, this was good.

She made her way into the master bedroom, gathering up any articles of clothing strewn across the room along the way, and pushed open the closet doors. She pulled out the laundry basket and let her armful of laundry fall into the half-full bin. Turning around, she saw a scrap of black fabric sticking out from under the bed and let out a groan. That man. Seriously? He had a laundry basket for a reason.

She dropped to her knees and braced herself with one hand, gripping the edge of the mattress as she reached under the bed to pull out the elusive article of clothing. She inched back reaching for the basket, dropping the black cotton thong into it with a huff.

Wait.

What?

Thong?

"Oh my God!" She cried out, eyes wide as she stared down at the basket.

He had a… what?

But he hadn't been seeing anyone and she had only been gone for one night. There had been no fan girls, no flight attendants, no ex-wives. Nothing. No one… except…

Alexis stalked into the office, laundry basket under one arm, the offending pair of underwear out in front of her, dangling off of one finger of the other.

"Father! Do you have some thing you would like to tell me?" She asked, eyes ablaze with worry and fear and excitement? There might be a little excitement, but mostly just anger, worry and fear. Yes.

Castle's lifted his head from his laptop lazily, slowly breaking out of his writer's daze. "What's wrong sweetie?"

Alexis jutted her arm out a little bit farther, and Castle's eyes grew wide, his mouth forming a perfect 'O'.

"Well, sweetie, there is something I need to talk to you about…"

Alexis raised an eyebrow, dropping the thong into the basket as she pursed her lips and waited for her father to spill the beans. Finally.

"I've taken up cross dressing."

She let out a startled laugh.

"Funny, Dad. Real funny," she turned to exit the office, basket still held securely under her arm. "Tell Detective Beckett… umm, Kate, I said hi, next time you get together for 'research'."

"Wait? What? Why do you think I'm sleeping with Kate?"

Alexis turned around, letting out another eye roll as she stepped back into the office. "Oh, please. You went back to the precinct and you've been whistling. I figured something had happened but this is just confirmation. Seriously, Dad, how long did you think you'd be able to keep this a secret?"

"I, well, I don't…" Castle stuttered, eyes wide.

Alexis arched and eyebrow, a slight twinkle returning to her gaze. "And to think, with comebacks like that you think you'd be a best selling author or something. Come to think of it, how long have you two been 'together' anyway?"

Castle let out another huff, running a hand through his hair, answering with a slight wince "A week? Since you're graduation night, actually…"

Alexis let out a knowing hum, as she slowly backed towards the door. "Good to know. I won the pool."

"Pool? What pool?" Castle asked, bewildered.

"The one at the precinct. Lanie will be mad. She missed it by two days."

Castle let out another huff as his phone buzzed, an incoming text message. His lips broke into a small smile and Alexis could literally see his face light up.

He was happy and his happiness was infectious. She could be happy about this. She could, even if the pit in her stomach was starting to grow again, even if she still had the sinking sensation that something was going to go terribly wrong.

"Gotta go, kiddo!" Castle proclaimed as he jumped out if his chair, bounding around the side of the desk and giving her a peck on the cheek before turning back towards his bedroom.

Alexis watched as he paused, snapping his fingers before turning back around and plucking the underwear out of the basket. "I'd better take these. You know, return them to their rightful owner and well, um, yeah. Thanks for doing the laundry!"

Alexis' nose crinkled up as she watched him shove them into his pocket. She shook her head as she watched the door to her father's room slam shut.

Gross.


	2. Castle Undercovers

Castle Undercovers

Prompt: Kate points out that Castle snores. And steals the covers. :)

From: Kate_Christie

* * *

She flopped over with a huff and screwed her eyes shut, attempting once again to sleep. Sheep. One sheep. Two sheep. Three sheep. She could do this. She could go to sleep. Yes, sleep perchance to dream. No, that was morbid. She would not think about death, not even now when she was seriously considering smothering him with a pillow just to get him to stop that incessant sound. Seriously, it sounded like a chainsaw on logs. No, not just logs, steal beams.

No. _No. _She could do this.

She let out a sigh. She could do this. She could just go to sleep.

She wiggled down into bed a little more, nestling down into the cocoon of Egyptian cotton, reveling in the feeling of the soft, silky fabric on her naked skin. Oh, that was good. That was so good. She let out a soft hum. It was so nice and warm. He insisted on keeping the loft like an icebox and part of her wondered if he did it just so he could pile a mountain of blankets and comforters on his bed because oh, it felt so good to snuggle under them.

With a contented sigh, her eyelids fluttered shut again. Nice, so nice.

He snuffled in his sleep and flipped over, one arm wrapped securely around the blanket and…

Cold!

Kate's eyes snapped open. Cold, she was so cold. Stupid bastard, stole the sheets. _Again!_

She let out huff and swung her legs out of bed. She couldn't take it anymore. Reaching for the blue fluffy robe draped over the chair in the corner, she flipped on the light.

"Castle!"

"Wha?" A helpless moan emanated from the pile of blankets on the bed. "Kate, what, what's going on? Why is the light on? We have a case?"

Kate let out another huff, running her hands hastily through her hair before crossing her arms over her chest. "Look at the bed, Castle."

Castle's head popped up off of the pillow, one eye open, squinting up at her. "What about the bed?"

"The sheets, Castle. Look at the sheets."

"I don't… Kate?"

Kate sighed as she deflated slightly, walking back towards the bed and reaching down to tug at the edge of the duvet, pulling it back towards her side of the bed. "You steal the covers, Castle."

"I do not!" Castle let out an indignant huff, both of his eyes now wide open and alert.

Kate let out an incredulous laugh as she raised her eyebrows at him and gave the blanket another tug. "Yes, you do. _And _you snore."

Castle let out an indignant gasp, one hand pressed to his chest in astonishment. "I. Do. Not!"

Kate leveled him with a stare which clearly stated _Yeah, you do, buddy._

"Well, I, um, you talk in your sleep!"

Kate froze, startled. "I do not!"

Castle pushed himself up in bed. "Oh, but, Former Detective Beckett, you do. Just last night you read me my Miranda Rights and threatened to cuff me. I was downright flattered and slightly turned on until I flipped over, all ready to have my wicked way with you, only to discover you were asleep. Asleep! I swear, even in your sleep you're a tease! Evil, evil woman."

Kate's jaw dropped open as he ranted and she stared at him, his sleep-messed hair sticking out in ever direction. "I did what?"

"Oh, and the other night," Castle continued. "You were going on about dwarves. Why were you talking about dwarves?"

Kate's mouth snapped shut and she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. Dwarves? "I, um, I don't know?"

"Yeah, dwarves. For an hour! You kept mumbling about dwarves and pick axes and something for an hour. I swear that is the last time we watch TV shows involving fairy tale creatures before bed."

Kate's face fell. But she liked that show. It was fun and dark and intriguing. "But… I like it."

Castle jerked out of his rant, stopping to stare at her as her cheeks flared red, her eyes grew wide and she clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Did you just _whine_?"

Kate shook her head emphatically, murmuring through her hand. "No."

"You did! The great Katherine Beckett just whined about a TV show!"

Kate let out a huff as her hand fell and she wrapped her arms around her waist. "Keep that up mister and you won't be getting any for a week!"

"Ha! You wouldn't be able to go a week and we both know it," Castle shot back.

Kate let out another huff, pulling her bottom lip in between her teeth. He was right. She could barely keep her hands off of him. Damn it. "Fine. I'll forget about the snoring if you forget about the whining."

Castle let his eyes trail over her for a second, studying her as he seemingly weighed the agreement.

"Castle!" She huffed again after he had been silent for almost a full minute.

"Ok. Fine. Whining for snoring. Deal, but the sleep talking is off the table. I reserve the right to bring that up anytime I feel fit," Castle negotiated, a small smile playing at his lips.

Kate let out another huff as she stalked across the room and pulled open the door.

"Wait! I was just joking. You know that! Where are you going?" Castle called after her, pushing himself up in bed so that the mountain of blankets pooled around his waist, leaving his bare chest exposed to the frosty air.

'To get another blanket since you horde all the others, you jerk!" She called back over her shoulder.

His face broke into a wide smile. "I love you, too!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."


	3. Flash Fiction

Flash Fiction

Prompt: Trash and treasure market shopping

From: Deb838

* * *

"Ooh, ooh, Kate, look at this!" Castle cried as he held up a random object.

Kate gave a good-natured roll of her eyes as she pushed her oversized sunglasses up onto her head and sauntered over to his side, wrapping an arm around his waist. When she had suggested they go to the street market, she hadn't expected him to be the one digging through the piles of junk searching for hidden treasure.

She bit the inside of her lip, mentally rolling her eyes as she reconsidered that statement for a moment. Castle. Hidden treasure. Yeah, she should have seen this coming.

"What'd you find, you scallywag?" She asked, resting her chin on his shoulder, lifting herself up onto the tiptoes of her sandal clad feet to see over his shoulder.

Castle opened his mouth to explain his loot but paused, turning to peer over his shoulder at her with a raised eyebrow, before continuing. "Did you just use pirate lingo because that's hot?"

"No, well yes, you know, you were scavenging for treasure and well. Oh, never mind what did you find?" Kate huffed in response; her cheeks flushed pink.

Castle gave her a small, indulgent smile before turning back to look at his find, holding it up for her to see. "Look! It's a Polaroid camera!"

Kate let out a small laugh in delight as she reached out for the boxy, bulky object. "Does it work?"

"Does it work?" Castle huffed, mimicking her question mockingly, taking the camera, flipping it over in his hands a couple of times before shrugging his shoulders and handing it back to her. "Actually, that's a good question. Come on."

He grabbed her hand, and held out a couple of bills to the vendor with a nod of his head before leading her around the corner to a photographer's tent. "They should have it here somewhere…"

Castle dropped Kate's hand as he riffled through a shelf and Kate gave the attendant a small wave and a smile before turning her attention back to her… boyfriend? Partner? Man-child? She shook her head. They really needed to talk about that at some point.

"Ha!" Castle let out a triumphant yell. "I found it!"

He made his way over to the counter, practically skipping, and Kate brought a fist up to cover her smile, the camera dangling from her other hand. Man-child it was.

He turned to her, film cartridge held up in the air as he strolled back over and reached for the camera. "Come on. Let's test this baby out."

He blew into the slot a couple of times before sliding in the cartridge and flipping the top of the camera open. It whirred to life and Kate shook her head, smiling, as Castle let out a sound somewhat akin to a giggle.

There was a brilliant flash of light and Kate blinked, rubbing her eyes as the square slid from the camera and Castle pulled it the rest of the way out, shaking the sheet while murmuring something under his breath.

"What are you singing?" Kate asked, her words slightly slurred by her wide grin.

"Nothing," Castle shook his head innocently.

"Castle…" Kate teased, taking a step towards him, reaching for the developing photo. "Were you singing 'shake it like a Polaroid picture'?"

"Maybe?" Castle admitted with a small smile as the picture finished it's transition and he held it out for her to see.

"Beautiful," he murmured as he gazed at the picture of her profile, smiling with abandon, her sunglasses perched on top of her head and a wisp of her hair flying across her face. "You're beautiful."

Kate flushed, her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the photo of herself, looking back at his face, the overpowering look of love in his eyes leaving her breathless.

"I love you," she whispered, gazing up at him.

He turned from the photo, startled, as he stared down at her. It was the first time she had said it. His face broke into a brilliant smile before ducking down and sealing his mouth to hers, an arm wrapping tightly around her waist, holding her body against him.

"I love you, too," he murmured against her lips, both of them grinning against each other as he lifting his free arm up to hold the camera out, angled at them.

Then, there was another brilliant flash of light.

* * *

A/N: Lyrics from "Hey Ya" by OutKast


	4. Cougar Town

Cougar Town

Prompt: Castle is convinced that he sees a cougar in Central Park.

From: IdaKnight

* * *

"Hey Lanie, what we got?" Detective Kate Beckett asked as she squatted down next to the medical examiner and lifted her sunglasses off of her eyes, perching them on her head so she could get a better look at the body lying next to them: male, early 20's, Caucasian.

It was a warm morning in New York City, with the temperature already reaching 80 degrees Fahrenheit at seven am, but she took a swig of her coffee anyway, relishing the burning sensation as the hot liquid flowed down her throat and into her stomach.

Dr. Lanie Parish let out a sigh as she turned her attention from the body to her friend. "I honestly don't know, sweetie. It looks like it could be some sort of animal attack or these marking could possibly be from some sort of sharp pronged instrument.

"Like a hand cultivator?"

Both women looked up, startled to see Richard Castle standing in front of them, coffee in hand, casting a shadow over them and the body.

"Like a what?" Lanie questioned, using a blue-gloved hand to shade her eyes as she squinted up at him.

"A hand cultivator. Those three pronged little hand tools used in gardening to till the soil. Like one of those?" Castle continued.

Lanie nodded in acquiescence. "Yeah, that could work."

"Wrong." Castle interjected and both women turned to him again. "That isn't it."

Lanie opened her mouth to speak but Kate spoke up first. "What do you mean that isn't it. How would you know?"

"Because," Castle started, pausing to lift his coffee cup to his lips, taking a long pull before returning to his explanation. "A cougar did it."

Kate raised an eyebrow in disbelief as she straightened herself back up, resting one hand on her hip as she gestured out to him with the other, coffee cup still clutched firmly in her grasp. "A cougar? Really? I've got to hear this one."

"The cougar," Castle began again, splitting his attention between both of them as Lanie stood back up, as well, and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for his explanation. "Also known is the mountain lion, puma, mountain cat, catmount, or panther is a territorial creature that enjoys hunting a wide variety of prey such as sheep, cows, deer, elk and moose. Attacks on humans are rare but increasing in frequency. I bet this one escaped from its owner and attacked the first thing it saw in order to get food. When it real realized humans weren't as tasty as the filet mignon it was used to, because let's face it, if someone has enough money to buy themselves an illegal cougar, they would have enough money to feed it filet mignon three squares a day, it just left, prowling off into the night."

When he finished his explanation his gaze drifted back to see the incredulous look on Kate Beckett's face. "Really, Castle? Not a cougar."

"How would you know? I saw an episode of "When Animals Attack", which included a cougar attack, last night and this is exactly what it looked like!"

Kate looked at him, opening her mouth to argue, before snapping it shut again and rolled her eyes at him instead, before turning her attention back to the medical examiner. "Do you have anything else for us, Lanie?"

"Not right now, sweetie. I'll let you know what I find when I get him back to the morgue," Lanie replied with a small, pitying smile.

"Thanks."

Kate turned to walk back down the path, Castle jogging to catch up with her.

"You'll see," he offered up after a moment of blissful silence. "I'll turn out to be right. It'll be a cougar."

Kate huff again as she tried to suppress her smile as she dropped her sunglasses back down over her eyes and glanced up to see the proud, child-like grin on his face.

"When did you watch "When Animal's Attack" last night?" She asked instead of arguing. She wouldn't win that argument yet, not without proof.

Castle glanced over at her with a shrug, "You were asleep. I tried to write but couldn't, so I settled for gruesome deaths by animals."

"Huh," Kate countered. "That explains the dreams."

"What dreams?"

"I don't really remember but there was one involving a duck."

"Oh, that must have been the segment when this mallard went quackers and bit off some guy's toe."

* * *

"Priscilla Young, fifty-five was the 'girlfriend' of our vic Thomas Miller. Got jealous of him talking to one of his college friends, and went off, thinking that they were having an affair. She attacked him with a, check this out, hand cultivator which she used for gardening. Out of panic she hauled the body to Central Park," Esposito recited to Beckett and Castle as they leaned against the desks in front of the murder board.

"Looks like you were right, Castle, about the hand cultivator," Kate supplied, looking over at her partner.

"The hand cultivator?" Castle questioned in reply, turning to look at her with an expression on his face, which could be described as nothing short of glee. "I was right about everything! A cougar really did do it!"


	5. Time Stands Still

Time Stands Still

Prompt: Castle & Beckett play hooky

For: Idaknight & dtrekker (because you're awesome like that)

* * *

The shrill buzz of the alarm sounded through the room, reverberating off of the walls; worming its way under the thick pile of blankets. Castle let out a pitiful groan as Kate's arm flopped out to fumble with the phone, bringing it down to hover over her face as her finger tried and missed for the "end" button.

The phone fell back to the nightstand as Kate brought a hand up to run down her face, rubbing at her eyes as the world blurred into focus. She moved to brush back the covers and an arm flopped over her rib cage, pinning her lightly to the mattress.

"Don't go," came a mumble from the face mashed into the next pillow.

"I have to," Kate sighed as she made a half-hearted attempt to sit up despite the added weight to her middle, pressing the soft fabric of her black camisole into her skin.

"No, no you don't. Play hooky, you know you want to."

"I can't play hooky."

"Why not."

"Because…"

Castle lifted his head from the pillow, his hair sticking up from sleep, giving him the "little boy" look, a pillow line streaking down his face and gave her a half-hearted quirk of his misshapen eyebrow.

Kate smiled softly as she reached over and smoothed out the fine line of hair, making it lay flat against the bottom ridge of his forehead. "Because I have work to do."

"No you don't," Castle argued, his arm tightening around her, dragging her into his side. "We closed the case yesterday. You're not on call. All you have to do is paperwork."

His nose scrunched at the word. "You can do paperwork later. Anytime, really. Have Ryan do it. That's what he's there for."

"Castle!" Kate admonished, flailing out a hand in an attempt to swipe at his arm, catching his ear instead.

"Ow! You beat me! That's abuse," Castle complained, turning his head back into his pillow.

"Now you have to stay home," he continued, turning his head back to face her, his cheek pressed into the pillow, lips half mashed from the angle. "Make it up to me."

"I can't, I have to go into work. Gates…" Kate protested, running her hand through her hair, scratching her scalp with her fingernails as she fumbled for an argument.

"Gates can suck it," Castle piped up and Kate's arm shot out once again to swipe at him, only to be caught by his hand as he brought their joined hands up, under his chin, forcing Kate to turn on her side to be comfortable, her finger tips brushing against the curved neck line of his plain white t-shirt.

She failed to keep the grin off of her face as he kissed her knuckles softly, turning one eye to look at her.

"She's been on my case since I got back, you know that. She's looking for any reason to knock me down, any little mistake. I've been having to work twice as hard lately," she sighed. "I can't not show up."

"Call in sick, you can make a miraculous recovery tomorrow, but for today you have the 24 hour stomach flu… you are puking up everything. You just have to stay in bed. Trust me, they don't want you there in this condition. You would go through at least three copies of your 5s because the first two would be covered in vomit and it would smell and that would make Ryan gag because, you know, he can't stand the smell of puke without throwing up himself. Then Espo would be forced to clean it up and would attack both of you with a can of Lysol to kill any germs… And it's not going to be pretty Beckett, we both know this already, so you might as well stay home and save us all the trouble. Because, in the end, Gates would be forced to call me to come pick you up and drag you home because you wouldn't come willingly and we would both just end up back here anyway."

Kate's eyes widened as Castle's rant went on, and by the end she was lifted up on one elbow, her hip pressed into the mattress, her hair falling in waves across her shoulders and down her back. "That was…"

"Amazing, I know."

"Terrible!"

Castle sighed as he let go of her hand and drew his fist back under his chin. "Fine. Go be a good little detective but you can't say I didn't try to sway you to the dark side. It's fun over here: over the top ice cream sundaes, sliding around the apartment in our socks, going commando because underwear is just too much effort some times…"

He lifted his head off the pillow, wiggling his eyebrows in one, last-ditch effort to sway her but Kate merely shook her head before pressing a quick kiss to his lips and swinging her body around to roll out of bed, landing on the floor with an 'umph'.

"You're getting old, Beckett," Castle called after her as she let out a high pitched moan, stretched her clasped hands up over her head, her back arched, as she walked towards the bathroom.

"Not as old as you, Castle," she shot back as she flicked on the light, the door swinging shut, but not latching as she made her way inside.

Castle buried his head back into the pillow, dragging the duvet back up over his body as he heard the toilet flush and the door creak back open. He listened to the shuffle of feet as Kate rounded the corner into the closet but they paused before he heard the light flick on.

"Oh, man," she groaned as he turned his head to look at her, squinting into the newly present light of the room.

"What's up?"

"It's raining," she let out in a sighing tone, which bordered on a whine.

"So?"

"So, the precinct is going to be dead. Believe it or not, murderers are not very active in a torrential downpour," Kate stated, glancing back at him, one hand scraping her hair out of her face and the other holding aside the curtain so she could see out into the city below. Her statement was punctuated by a clap of thunder.

Slowly, she drew her hand back, letting the curtain fall back into place. Castle watched as she shifted between her feet a few times, dancing back and forth, her bottom lip drawn between her teeth. She pushed out her lip with a puff of air and turned back towards the bed, walking over resolutely until she slid back under the covers, propping her head up in her palm as he propped himself up on his own elbow, mirroring her posture.

"You're staying?"

"Yes."

"That was it?" He questioned incredulously. "All of that and you're calling in because of a little bit of rain?"

Kate raised an eyebrow, glancing back over her shoulder towards the window she couldn't quite see from her current position. "A little bit of rain? Castle, it's a monsoon out there!"

"Big bad Detective Kate Beckett: scared of a little bit of rain."

"Monsoon, Castle."

"Right… so what do you want to do? Go joy riding on your motorcycle? Go to the beach; get a tan that you will have to explain tomorrow? Oh, I know, we can go to the zoo!"

"It's raining, Castle."

Castle shrugged, his shoulders awkwardly contorting in his current position. "What's a little monsoon between friend? Just make sure to wear white."

Kate let out a chuckle as she leaned in, her fingers wrapping around the collar of his shirt, pulling him towards her for a kiss.

"Or, we could stay right here," she murmured, low, against his lips.

"Or we could do that," he replied in kind, his arm coming up to wrap around her, pulling her body into his.

Thunder clapped. Droplets of water pelted against the windows, drowning out the sounds of the outside world, and, just for a moment, the city stood still.


	6. 6 Need to Know

6. Need to Know

Prompt: The first time Martha is in a room with Castle and Beckett since admitting she knows they are a couple. And they are kissing.

From: Kate Christie

* * *

Need to Know

Kate moaned as his lips descended upon hers, pressing her back into the brown leather couch. He chuckled deep in his throat, and she parried with a half-hearted whack to his shoulder. If he said something about it later she would deny it. No, she didn't moan. He couldn't do that to her with a simple kiss, his hands buried in her hair, caressing the back of her neck. Nope, uh uh, he couldn't do that to her.

At least he didn't need to know he could.

It had been a long day, a long week and the feel of him up against her, pushing her back into the soft cushions was perfect. They had barely spent anytime together outside of the precinct and that time consisted of a bite to eat at Remy's or falling into an exhausted sleep. Granted there was that one time Tuesday night, but that barely counted.

She toed off her heels, letting them fall to the ground as his lips moved in a slow trail across the sharp angle of her cheekbone and down the gentle slope of her neck. She pivoted in her spot, lifting her legs to stretch out over the creamy fabric. One of the luxuries of having a rich boyfriend: sinfully comfortable furniture.

Not that she would ever tell him that.

She could feel another moan creeping up her throat as his lips dipped further. Silently she applauded herself. _Good choice of shirts today, Kate. Scoop neck was definitely the way to go._

Her fingers threaded through his short locks, holding his head to her, gently nudging him lower. Of course, if he asked she would deny it. She wasn't that desperate for him. She wasn't.

He nudged the edge of her shirt lower with his chin, his lips following, marking a burning trail over her skin, to the silky edge of her bra.

It was his turn to moan.

She thought back to her choice of undergarments that morning as they stumbled around in the dark, throwing on clothing haphazardly before going to collar their suspect. The suspect Castle had bolted up in bed in the middle of the night knowing about. The epiphany popping out of nowhere and into his brain equipped with Mensa level deductive reasoning skills.

Not that she would ever tell him that. His ego didn't need the boost.

The light pink satin with the black lace overlay. She congratulated herself again. _Good choice, Kate. Good life choices…_

His hands, warmed from being entwined in her hair, smoothed down over her body, creeping back up under her shirt, pushing it up over the plain of her stomach. Her breath hitched in her chest. The moan she had been working so hard to suppress eased its way out in a soft whimper her willfulness snapping and her hands reached for his buttons, trailing down his front before deftly working the buckle on his belt open. It had to be off. Now.

It didn't matter that they were on the couch in the middle of the loft. It didn't matter that it was four in the afternoon and it didn't matter that Alexis had said she would _possibly_ be in to do laundry sometime during the evening because 'she was running low on clothes but she had an exam the next day so she wasn't sure if she could get away'.

None of it mattered because his hand was drifting lower and she couldn't give a flying fuck that the lock was turning on the door and she could hear Martha's voice floating in from the hall….

"Richard, dear, are you home?"

Castle froze above her, one hand on her half open zipper, the fingers of his other curled inside, her waist band just grazing the edge of her panty line, face buried in the shallow valley between her breasts.

Kate's eyes grew wide as her teeth sank into her lip.

_Fuck._

"Oh! There you are. I figured by your text earlier that you would be here by now but I wasn't sure. Alexis called a little while ago…" Martha chattered on as she opened the hall closet, hanging up her purse and coat before her heels clicked further into the room. "Oh! Kate, darling, you're here too. So nice to see you."

Castle groaned again, one no longer one of the 'happy' variety and buried his face further into her chest, his cheeks burning pink against her skin.

Martha merely waved a hand in dismissal when neither of them responded and rounding the couch and working her way towards the wine cabinet. "Are you staying for dinner dear? Like I was saying, Alexis called earlier and said she would be over tonight to do some laundry so I thought it would be nice to make a feast for all of us. You know a 'first day home from college' celebration dinner? I was thinking of a rack of lamb. How does that sound to you, Richard? I have the perfect wine to go with it and I am sure you could whip up something for dessert, maybe a meringue. Have you ever had his meringue, Kate?"

She pegged Kate with a stare, bottle of wine in one hand, corkscrew in the other. Kate continued to stare at her wide-eyed from her position reclined on the couch, head resting against the armrest. Neither of them had dared to move a muscle. Slowly she shook her head from side to side.

No, she hadn't had his meringue… _Don't laugh Kate, don't laugh… _

"Ah!" Martha let out a huff of disappointment as she pulled the cork from the bottle with a flourish. "Well that settles it, you must make it, Richard."

Castle nodded against her chest, the ends if his hair ticking her chin and cheek, his face still buried in her skin, nose pressing against her sternum.

"Well, I'll be upstairs," Martha announced as she poured a liberal amount of wine into a glass, placing it on the counter before filling a second one. "Kate, dear, I am leaving your glass right here. I assume you'll want one after you are… finished."

She waved a hand in their direction, bracelets jangling as she made her way up the stairs. "So nice to see you again dear. Carry on."

They both lay, frozen, listening as the door on the second level clicked shut. It was only then that Kate realized her hands were still tucked into Castle's pants.

His body sagged into hers, shoulders quivering with laughter as he finally lifted his head to look at her, cheeks flaming red.

He rolled to the side, sliding down; nestled between the back of the couch and her body.

Lifting her hands to cover her face, hiding her own bright pink skin as silent sobs of laughter filled her chest.

Her body jerked with a hiccup as she came down off her high, still giggling through her embarrassment, tears spilling down her cheeks.

She smoothed her hands through her hair before lowering them to her pants, redoing the button and zipping the partially undone fly. Rolling off the couch, she looked back to find Castle watching her, laughter dancing in his eyes.

"What?" She questioned, adjusting her shirt back over her middle.

"Bet the closet isn't looking so bad now, is it?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, turning on her heels to hightail it into his room, his bathroom to be more specific. She let out a huff as she leaned against the counter, arms braced on the marble surface, crimson face reflected back at her in mirror, shaking her head.

In fact, the closet sounded very good right now. Not that he needed to know that.

* * *

A/N: Hope I did you proud ;)


	7. Betting Man's Game

Betting Man's Game

Prompt: The couples make a bet on who can go without you-know-what the longest. From Dia.

Shout outs to Joy & Nic because of mashed potatoes with a cherry on top. ;)

Flew Beta free on this one so any mistakes are my own.**  
**

* * *

****Betting Man's Game

There was a jar in the middle of her desk. It had been sitting there for five days now. Five long, hard days.

Long.

Hard.

No.

This was bad. So bad.

She wasn't going to think like that. The only problem was that everything was turning into a double entendre.

Everything.

A suspect had been talking about how he was innocent because he had been at a restaurant and the waitress would remember him because he had complained to her about how a maraschino cherry had fallen on top of his mashed potatoes and ruined his entire meal since he hated maraschino cherries and her mind had wandered to the time that she and Castle had been having a little bit of fun with whipped cream and there had been cherries on…

No.

No. No. No.

This was _not_ going to happen.

And it wasn't like they hadn't gone five days without… before because they had, plenty of times. Well, by 'plenty' she really meant once or twice when a case got really hard… no, not hard. Difficult. Or that one time he had been really sick and had snored the nights away after she rubbed Vaporub on his chest.

Oh, his chest. His perfect, smooth, muscular chest.

She pushed her chair back and stood suddenly in one swift motion.

She had to get out of here.

"Where are you going?"

She turned upon hearing his voice to find him still sitting in the green chair beside her desk, case file open on his lap, confusion etched on his face. "I just need to go, get some air."

Her eyes flickered to the jar; his followed hers. He looked back at her in understanding, his lips pressed together like he was trying to suppress a smile.

Smug bastard.

But he also smiled like that when he was about to…

No!

She spun on her heels almost taking out a uniformed officer in her haste and strolled out of the bullpen, and into the stairwell with as much decorum as she could muster. The door slammed shut behind her as she leaned against the wall, hands pressed to her face.

Why had she agreed to this in the first place?

It was supposed to be a simple bet. Fun. Esposito had been the one to bring it up in the first place. His words still rung in his head: _Let's see who can go the longest without having sex._

Why? She couldn't remember. But of course they had all said yes because it was a bet, a competition, and that's what they did. They took idiotic bets with each other. Like the one time Ryan and Esposito had decided to see who could chug a gallon of milk the fastest and had both ended up puking in the middle of the break room or that once Castle had bet her he could go the whole day without cracking one joke. He had lasted an hour. So, it had been no question. Of course they would go in on the bet, $100 per person. $200 a couple.

She and Castle had looked at each other. It would be one day, two at the most they said. Esposito and Lanie had just rekindled their romance. It was not like they could go that long without… you know… but now, five days later, she was starting to regret it. In fact, she was considering staying the night at her apartment, which she barely even saw anymore, just so she wouldn't give into temptation. Because it was not about the money anymore, it was about the fact that it was a bet and she was competitive and she _was not_ going to lose. Damn it.

She pressed her fists into her eyes, letting out a growl of frustration.

Five freaking days.

She stomped her foot on the ground. She needed to get this frustration out somehow.

The gym.

She would go up to the workout room, go a couple rounds with the punching bag and then take a cold shower and maybe dunk her head in a vat of ice water.

Throwing the door to the stairwell back open she stalked back into the hall, scowling at the poor rookie detective who happened to get in her way as she made her way to the locker room.

She could see them out of the corner of her eye staring at her. Castle still perched at the desk— phone in hand, two cups of coffee cooling on the desktop, foot jiggling.

He had made her coffee. That was so sweet. She really should go over there and thank him but that would lead her to thinking about all the _other_ ways she could be thanking him and she could not do that right now. Anymore closeness and she would be pulling him into the stairwell and, well, doing something to him that would not only get her fired but also arrested. Although they were in the perfect place for that…

She shook her head again. No. And the fact that she was considering the possibility that it was worth it made it just that much worse.

The boys were standing huddled near the murder board, markers in hand, attempting to look like they weren't watching her, but they were. She could see it because _all_ of her senses were heightened right now. She scowled back.

How were they all so okay with this? It wasn't fair.

She stormed up the stairs to the refuge of the precinct gym.

Worst bet ever.

* * *

Ryan glanced over at Esposito to see his partner rocking back on his heels while staring at the pictures on the whiteboard before swiveling his head to make sure Castle was still consumed by his game.

"So… when do you think we should tell them?"

Espo glanced back at him, the closed cap of the marker pressed against his lips. "Tell them what, that Lanie and I gave in the first night and you and Jenny the second?"

He looked over at Castle as the writer shifted in his chair, a hand running through his hair, eyes glued to the staircase, which Beckett had ascended only moments before, staring longingly, like he was debating the potential consequences of following her into the women's locker room.

"How long did they wait to tell us that they were together even though we had been rooting for them for four years? 10 weeks?"

"So ten days?"

"Sounds about right."

"Want to bet to see if they can make it that long?"

"Ten bucks?"

"Twenty."

"Deal."


End file.
